King Krule – The OOZ Reaction

Haven’t heard of King Krule before? Don’t worry, I was totally unfamiliar with the name myself until somebody strongly suggested I give The OOZ a listen. Well I finally did and to be honest it took me more than a few days to really unpack things and give my reaction to it. I’ve never heard anything like this before.

“See world, you’ll never know At least when you look to the stars they still glow Well, not for me though Body and head are empty, even when we’re toe to toe Well, I suppose I’ll forever be the only one who knows Aspirations ingrown, girl, I’ll forever be alone”

In an age when music is becoming increasingly more genre-less, King Krule’s latest album still stands out as an extreme outlier. It blends trip hop, ska, jazz, punk rock, and probably a dozen other elements to create something that can’t really be properly described, it just needs to be experienced. There’s something exhilarating about someone throwing out the rule book and any expectations of what an album is supposed to be, and just freely expressing themselves. Once I let go of those expectations, I couldn’t help but get pulled into King Krule’s mad soundscapes of isolation, anxiety, and slightly out of tune instruments; all punctuated by his perfectly gravelly voice. While I may have started out as unsure, I started to really see the brilliance in the disarray and I only discover more with each new listen. I will concede however that The OOZ is not an easy album by any measure; you can’t just throw it on and immediately be taken in, it’s meant to be sat with and slowly digested as its many idiosyncrasies slowly reveal themselves; and I definitely need to be in the right mood to give it a spin. It’s as much a work of art as it is an album, but for someone who loves the odd and experimental as much as I do, The OOZ was about as rich an album as I’ve heard all year.

Have you heard The OOZ? What’d you think about it? Did you love how experimental and different is was as much as I did? Let me know in the comments below and be sure to leave your own ratings and reactions for the album.

The OOZ Reaction

Conclusion

King Krule's latest is not an easy album by any measure; you can’t just throw it on and immediately be taken in, it’s meant to be sat with and slowly digested as its many idiosyncrasies slowly reveal themselves. But once I let go of my expectations of what an album is supposed to sound like, I couldn’t help but get pulled into his mad soundscapes of isolation, anxiety, and slightly out of tune instruments. It’s as much a work of art as it is an album, but for someone who loves the odd and experimental as much as I do, The OOZ was about as rich an album as I’ve heard all year.